Vegetable Pintxos

My favorite part of summer is when friends come to visit. Friends we haven’t seen for months, even years. And nothing better than a table of appetizers and cool drinks to accompany the reunion stories and laughs. If the appetizers are Pintxos, the party is on!

Pintxos (or skewers) are appetizers presented in individual portions pierced by a toothpick or a skewer. The Pintxo’s capital of the world is Donostia/San Sebastián and they are very popular in the bars of the Basque Country and Navarra in Spain. We can see pintxos with fish, meat, preserves, mushrooms, and increasingly, grilled or roasted vegetables like the ones we bring you here.

The most famous pintxo (and most common in bars) is the Gilda. A magical combination of olives, anchovies and piparras (Basque green pickled chillies). the Gilda was born in the Casa Vallés bar in Donostia, founded in 1942. Legend has it that a very witty client said that the pintxo was like Rita Hayworth’s character from the movie Gilda: green, salty and a little spicy. And thus it was baptized.

Today we bring you a selection of vegetable pintxos that we created for the Restaurant Brío in Tarifa. Roasted or grilled vegetables, olives, mushrooms, and our legendary Vegetable Frittata. Prepare your pantry, make them and enjoy!

Roasted pumpkin with red pepper and onion

Base: oven roasted pumpkin, red pepper and red onion
Complements: black olives.
Dressing: tahini sauce with coriander/romesco sauce with chopped hazelnuts.

Grilled zucchini with black tapenade

Base: grilled zucchini slices rolled with black tapenade filling.
Complements: gherkins, piparras (Basque pickled chillies) and green olives.
Dressing: Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Mushrooms with tartar sauce

Base: mushrooms or portobellos sautéed with garlic and oregano.
Complements: piparras (Basque chilli pepper) and roasted potato slices.
Dressing: tartar sauce.

Vegetable Frittata with Ricotta

Base: cubes of vegetable frittata on a cracker/toast (see the recipe for the Frittata, here).
Complements: ricotta slice and basil leaves.
Dressing: Extra Virgin Olive Oil.